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Oh, Pretty Woman
| label = Monument | writer = *Roy Orbison *Bill Dees | producer = Fred Foster | prev_title = It's Over | prev_year = 1964 | next_title = Goodnight | next_year = 1965 | misc = }} "Oh, Pretty Woman" or "Pretty Woman" is a song recorded by Roy Orbison, written by Orbison and Bill Dees. It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 from September 26, 1964, the second single by Orbison to top the US charts.Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of #1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 157. It was also Orbison's third single to top the UK Singles Chart (for a total of three weeks). The record ultimately sold seven million copies and marked the high point in Orbison's career.Lehman, Peter. Roy Orbison: Invention of an Alternative Rock Masculinity. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2003, p. 2, 13 Within months of its release, in October 1964, the single was certified gold by the RIAA. At the year's end, Billboard ranked it the number four song of 1964. Overview The lyrics tell the story of a man who sees a pretty woman walking by. He yearns for her and wonders if, as beautiful as she is, she might be lonely like he is. At the last minute, she turns back and joins him. The title was inspired by Orbison's wife, Claudette, interrupting a conversation to announce she was going out. When Orbison asked if she had enough cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected, "A pretty woman never needs any money."Amburn, Ellis. Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story. New York: Carol Publishing, 1990, p. 127 Orbison's recording of the song was produced by Fred Foster on 1 August 1964. There were four guitar players on the session: Roy Orbison, Billy Sanford, Jerry Kennedy, and Wayne Moss. Sanford, who later played on sessions for Elvis Presley, Don Williams and many others, played the intro guitar. Williams introduced him as a kid who had just arrived in Nashville, with a borrowed guitar, who heard Orbison was minus a guitar player, who went over and got the gig. Other musicians on the record included Floyd Cramer on piano, Henry Strzelecki on upright bass, Boots Randolph and Charlie McCoy on saxophones, Buddy Harman on drums, and Paul Garrison on percussion. Orbison played a 12-string Epiphone. Bill Porter served as recording engineer for the song. Orbison posthumously won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his live recording of "Oh Pretty Woman" on his HBO television special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. In 1999, the song was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #224 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." On May 14, 2008, The Library of Congress selected the song for preservation in the National Recording Registry. Lawsuit against 2 Live Crew In 1989, rap group 2 Live Crew recorded a parody of the Orbison song, using the alternate title "Pretty Woman", for their album As Clean As They Wanna Be. 2 Live Crew sampled the distinctive bassline from the Orbison song, but replaced the original lyrics with talk about a hairy woman and her bald-headed friend and their appeal to the singer, as well as denunciation of a "two-timing woman." Orbison's publisher, Acuff-Rose Music sued 2 Live Crew on the basis that the fair use doctrine did not permit reuse of their copyrighted material for profit. The case, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided in 2 Live Crew's favor, greatly expanding the doctrine of fair use and extending its protections to parodies created for profit. It is considered a seminal fair use decision. Chart positions Sales and certifications }} Van Halen version | format = 7-inch single | recorded = January 1982 | studio = Sunset Sound, Los Angeles | genre = Hard rock | length = | label = Warner Bros. | writer = *Roy Orbison *Bill Dees | producer = Ted Templeman | prev_title = Unchained | prev_year = 1981 | next_title = Dancing in the Street | next_year = 1982 }} Van Halen covered the song on their 1982 album, Diver Down. It was preceded by a guitar-driven intro titled "Intruder". For the video of the single, the two songs were joined, giving a running-time of 4:34. This was done to lengthen the song in order to fit the video's running time. In the music video, the band members dress as a samurai (bassist Michael Anthony), Tarzan (drummer Alex Van Halen), a cowboy (guitarist Eddie Van Halen), and Napoleon (frontman David Lee Roth). Per a hunchbacked onlooker's request, they rescue a captive girl (played by transgender entertainer International Chrysis). It was one of the first videos banned by MTV, due to its opening sequence, where the captive girl is tied up and fondled against her will by a pair of little people. The ban was eventually lifted, as MTV sister network VH1 Classic would later air the video. This was the band's second Top 20 hit, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100,Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 656. and also peaking at #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. Track listing Hindi version The Indian musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy composed the Hindi song "Pretty Woman", which samples "Oh, Pretty Woman", for the Bollywood film Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003). See also *List of Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one songs of the 1980s References External links * Category:1964 songs Category:1964 singles Category:1976 singles Category:1982 singles Category:Roy Orbison songs Category:Van Halen songs Category:Songs written by Roy Orbison Category:Songs written by Bill Dees Category:Song recordings produced by Fred Foster Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Category:Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one singles Category:UK Singles Chart number-one singles Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in Germany Category:Number-one singles in Norway Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Category:Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings Category:Monument Records singles Category:Warner Bros. Records singles Category:Songs about beauty